Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;69(9):2455-2463.
doi: 10.1111/jgs.17301. Epub 2021 Jun 19.

Moving geroscience from the bench to clinical care and health policy

Felipe Sierra  1   2 , Avshalom Caspi  3 , Richard H Fortinsky  4 , Laura Haynes  4 , Gordon J Lithgow  5 , Terrie E Moffitt  3 , S Jay Olshansky  6 , Daniel Perry  7 , Eric Verdin  5 , George A Kuchel  4
Affiliations

Moving geroscience from the bench to clinical care and health policy

Felipe Sierra et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Geriatricians and others must embrace the emerging field of geroscience. Until recently geroscience research was pursued in laboratory animals, but now this field requires specialized expertise in the care of vulnerable older patients with multiple chronic diseases and geriatric syndromes, the population likely to benefit the most from emerging therapies. While chronological aging measures the inevitable passage of clock time that occurs equally for everyone, biological aging varies among individuals, and importantly, it is modifiable. Advances in our understanding of biological aging, the discovery of strategies for modifying its rate, and an appreciation of aging as a shared risk factor for chronic diseases have jointly led to the Geroscience Hypothesis. This hypothesis states that interventions modifying aging biology can slow its progression-resulting in the delay or prevention of the onset of multiple diseases and disorders. Here we wish to report on the Third Geroscience Summit held at National Institutes of Health on November 4-5, 2019, which highlighted the importance of engaging other disciplines including clinicians. Involvement by scientists with expertise in clinical trials, health outcomes research, behavioral and social sciences, health policy, and economics is urgently needed to translate geroscience discoveries from the bench to clinical care and health policy. Adding to the urgency of broadening this geroscience coalition is the emergence of biological aging as one the most important modifiable factors of COVID-19, combined with the inability of our society to once again recognize and confront aging as a priority and opportunity when facing these types of public health emergencies.

Keywords: aging; economy; geriatricians; geroscience; social.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Gordon J. Lithgow is a scientific founder of Gerostate Alpha. Eric Verdin is a scientific founder of Napa Therapeutics. Laura Haynes and George A. Kuchel are consultants for Spring Discovery.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A geroscience-guided approach to medicine shares geriatricians’ focus on health, function, and multimorbidity as opposed to traditional single disease paradigms. Biological hallmarks of aging (yellow) contribute to the progression from resilience to frailty, varied chronic disease, and disability (blue) impacting function and providing opportunities for geroscience-guided approaches (orange) designed to slow the onset and progression of chronic diseases and disability
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Social and behavioral considerations relevant to the implementation of a geroscience agenda. In considering five distinct goals and respective challenges pertaining to the effective translation of the geroscience agenda from the realm of research to clinical care and population health, a number of key considerations emerge from the world of behavioral and social sciences of aging
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Neugarten BL, Havighurst RJ. Extending the Human Life Span: Social Policy and Social Ethics. NSF/RA 770123. Chicago: National Science Foundation, University of Chicago Press; 1977.
    1. Olshansky SJ, Hayflick L. Public policies intended to influence adult mortality. In: Rogers RG, Crimmins EM, eds. International Handbook of Adult Mortality. Vol 2. Springer, Heidelberg: IHOP; 2011:571–581.
    1. Friedman DB, Johnson TE. A mutation in the age-1 gene in Caenorhabditis elegans lengthens life and reduces hermaphrodite fertility. Genetics. 1988;118:75–86. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hayflick L. The cell biology of aging. Clin Geriatr Med. 1985;1:15–27. - PubMed
    1. Cristofalo VJ, Pignolo RJ. Replicative senescence of human fibroblast-like in culture. Physiol Rev. 1995;72:617–638. - PubMed